Ibrabatics, BWPx3, irritated Impact and more: What you missed in Week 29

September 17, 2018 admin US MLS 0

MLS Week 29 was a doozy. Let’s break it down.

Ibra x 500

I would be remiss if I began anywhere but BMO Field, where Toronto FC and the LA Galaxy showcased both the desperation reflective of their increasingly dim playoff hopes and the slipshod defending that got them in these straits in the first place in a straight-up ludicrous 5-3 shootout. The result ended with some headline-worthy barking between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Michael Bradley, and probably pours the final shovelful of dirt on the Galaxy’s postseason prospects.

Make this the condensed match you watch on the MLS app this week – and not just for the see-saw clash itself, but Ibrahimovic’s stunning, beautiful, probably-martial-arts-inspired goal, the 500th of his incredible career:

Atlantic Cup matinee thriller

Chicago pinned four on listless Orlando on Sunday, but the afternoon’s real treat was the 3-3 tussle between D.C. United and their old rivals the New York Red Bulls at muggy Audi Field. Despite some outstanding moments from Paul Arriola, Wayne Rooney and Lucho Acosta, perennial D.C. killer Bradley Wright-Phillips simply refused to allow his side to lose, responding to every United goal with one of his own to bag his fifth career MLS hat trick:

Underdogs… kicked

There’s barely a month left in the 2018 regular season, and for better or worse, you are who you are at this point. And Atlanta United and Sporting Kansas City, the respective Eastern and Western Conference leaders, reminded us of that reality in merciless fashion on their visits to strugglers Colorado and San Jose this weekend.

The Five Stripes thumped the Rapids for three first-half goals and cruised the rest of the way, a very comfortable road win underlined by Darlington Nagbe’s textbook midfield performance in his first game back from nearly three months out with an adductor injury:

…While out by the Bay, livewire winger Gerso Fernandes spearheaded a 5-1 humbling of the Earthquakes that could well have been even worse, were it not for five saves from Quakes goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell.

Nacho day

Heading into Week 28, your correspondent and several other members of the MLSsoccer.com staff listed their predictions for how the standings would look at the end of the regular season. All eight of us picked D.C. United to snare the East’s sixth and final playoff slot, ahead of the Montreal Impact and New England Revolution.

Quebec’s TVA Sports spotted this and presented it to Impact forward Quincy Amarikwa, who unsurprisingly registered his distaste:

Whether or not our post got printed out and pinned on a bulletin board in Montreal’s locker room, IMFC have found a wellspring of motivation somewhere. They’re 3-1-2 since the start of August and look just as likely to catch fifth-place Philadelphia as get reeled in by D.C. Saturday’s 4-1 road demolition of the Union was a powerful statement, keyed by Nacho Piatti’s masterful orchestration of the counterattack:

Big train

Speaking of motivated – no one in MLS is feeling it quite like the Seattle Sounders. The Rave Green notched their ninth straight win in an absorbing Cascadia Cup encounter with the Vancouver Whitecaps where Raul Ruidiaz was the star, bagging both goals and conjuring up this nasty nutmeg of Doneil Henry in the late going:

Seattle are just the second MLS team this century to win nine in a row, and they got to take the Cascadia Cup trophy home with them as this year’s champs. Is there another piece of hardware in their future?

Revs: not dead

Montreal showed they have plenty of life left in them this week and so did New England, who gave LAFC all they could handle in a rugged 1-1 affair at Banc of California Stadium. Rookie Brandon Bye thumped home his first MLS goal to equalize in the late going:

It was just desserts for a Revs side that knocked on the door for most of the second half and are just one point back of D.C., five back of the Impact – and host Montreal on the final day of the regular season. Barring a miraculous winning run from Toronto, we’re looking at four teams in the hunt for the East’s final two postseason slots, which should make this final month a fun one.

Where you been?

In terms of playoff reckoning, they’ve looked cooked for weeks now. Yet the Houston Dynamo finally put paid to their 10-game winless skid with a rousing 4-1 rout of the Portland Timbers on Saturday, inspired by Alberth Elis, to give us and their fans a tantalizing glimpse of the quality they showed in their impressive 2017 campaign.

Meanwhile Minnesota United ended their three-game losing skid with a 1-1 draw at Real Salt Lake that was one Video Review decision away from being a 2-1 comeback win for the Loons, as Miguel Ibarra led the way. It’s too little, too late for MNUFC, though with five of their six remaining games against playoff or playoff-chasing teams, they might enjoy playing spoiler down the stretch.

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